SINGITA GRUMETI DONATES MODERN EQUIPMENT TO SERENGETI DISTRICT COUNCIL

Singita Grumeti Fund Relationship Manager, Ami Seki (right) hands over a Plotter Machine to the Serengeti District Executive Director, Engineer Juma Hamsini Seph (left) which will be used in printing coloured maps when allocating land for Human Settlement and Wildlife protected areas. The Plotter machine is worth TZS 8.7 million.

The Serengeti District Executive Director Engineer Juma Hamsini Seph demonstrates on how to use a Plotter machine in printing coloured maps when allocating land for Human Settlement and Wildlife protected areas. The machine which is worth TZS 8.7 million was donated by the Singita Grumeti Fund to the council.

Tuesday 18 October 2016 - Singita Grumeti has donated a modern Plotter machine valued at TZS 8.7million to the Serengeti District Council in the Mara Region. Singita Grumeti Fund Relationship Manager, Mr Ami Hamidu Seki presented the machine to the Serengeti District Executive Director, Engineer Juma Hamsini Seph during a ceremony at the district offices. Singita Grumeti and the Serengeti District Council are both stakeholders of Wildlife Conservation and this donation will help towards the efforts that the Council is taking in the Human Wildlife Conflict (HWC) that exists within the Serengeti ecosystem.

The Plotter, which is a computer printer for printing computer-aided design applications, will enable the Council to print coloured maps used when allocating land for human settlement as well as wildlife protected areas. The donation will help increase the efficiency of the District Council in that services to local villages will be offered promptly on matters involving land use plans. This will be a great improvement as printing of maps is currently done in Musoma town which is several kilometres away.

“On behalf of Singita Grumeti, I would like to hand over this Plotter Machine which we believe will help you in the very important work of producing land maps” said Mr Seki, Singita Grumeti Fund Relationship Manager. “Our mission at Singita Grumeti is to partner with local communities and other stakeholders such as the District Council, to actively support the conservation of the Serengeti ecosystem” commented Mr Seki.

With the increase of wild animal populations in the Serengeti ecosystem and elephants in particular, the government has put emphasis on the formulation and enforcement of Protected Areas (PAs), Local Villages Land Use Plans (VLUPs) as well as other methods, in order to significantly reduce the Human Wildlife Conflict which has been prevalent over the past few years. “We are facing a situation whereby local communities are against wildlife conservation, as the very animals we are protecting, destroy crops and jeopardise their livelihood”, pointed out Mr Seki. The delivery of the new Plotter will enable the District Council to produce maps that show the various land use zones (agriculture, residence, community services, environmental conservation, livestock grazing etc.). The maps will also outline the buffer zones between the VLUPs and PAs, therefore reduce the likelihood of elephants destroying village crops, or threatening lives. At the same time, this will reduce the Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) and elephants will not be killed by villagers, an act that defeats the very essence of wildlife conservation.

About Singita
Dedicated to environmentally conscious hospitality, sustainable conservation and the empowerment of local communities, Singita, meaning “place of miracles’, was founded in 1993 with a single lodge in South Africa, but now is the custodian of a million acres of land and manages 12 lodges and camps across Africa.

Singita Grumeti in Tanzania operates Singita Sasakwa Lodge, Faru Faru Lodge, Sabora Tented Camp, Explore, Serengeti House all located in the Grumeti Reserves, and Mara River Tented Camp located in the Lamai Triangle. The Singita Grumeti Fund operates and manages Singita’s conservation and community projects across the 350,000 acres of Singita Grumeti, making a tangible difference in the lives of people living and working in and around the reserves.